Assisted living facilities are charging an average of 13% more than two years ago, while nursing home operators have hiked prices 7% over the same time span, according to a new nationwide survey.

The average daily cost for assisted living residents is $3,241 per month, or about $108 per day, according to the 2008 Long-Term Care Cost Study, which was released by Prudential Financial on Monday. It was the largest jump among long-term care providers surveyed.

Average rates for a private nursing home bed, meanwhile, rose to $79,810 per year (or about $6,650 per month or $222 per day), the survey showed. Annual rates for semi-private rooms were about 11% less than private rooms. That equates to about $70,810 per year ($5,900 per month, $197 per day).

Geography played a familiar role in calculations, with Alaska ($183,595), New York City ($160,965) and Stamford, CT ($148,920), ringing up the biggest bills for private nursing care, while Louisiana ($48,180) Kansas ($53,655) and Missouri ($55,845) billed at the lowest rates.

Prudential teamed up with LifeCare, an independent "adult care" services provider, to conduct the telephone survey of 1,613 long-term care operators from November 2007 to January 2008.

About 60,000 elderly or disabled Medicaid recipients in Louisiana are being told they should expect to lose their benefits in July, and advocates say more than a quarter of them could be forced out of the long-term care facilities they call home.